The threshold and the caliber of talent is currently at a different level than we’ve seen probably over the past 10 years. And now that we’ve gone through all the layoffs and listen, I know that there’s a lot of layoffs still occurring, so definitely not trying to minimize that, but talent is being looked at differently again, and we’ve sort of gone back to the threshold and caliber pre-covid days. Like this is definitely reminding me, Em, of the times when we were in the office. I’m thinking like 2018 where our clients were just very particular about the type of level and experience and work history that they were looking for. But, you know, saying all of that, I’m curious, are you seeing kind of the same thing, on the go-to-market side of recruiting?
Yeah, we definitely are. We’re seeing hiring managers look at candidates like under a microscope. And with that, we’re seeing more rounds of interviews, more projects, like cannot emphasize the amount of projects. Like more interview stakeholders and in just like an overall honestly, a ton of skepticism about candidates that three years ago, honestly, like those same exact candidates would have been immediately like flying off of the shelves.
What do you think that means for candidates though? And their experience, I think it means a few things. I’d say like first, I think candidates just, you know, I guess my advice would be change your overall expectations about interview processes. Like I think sometimes when you’re going in with specific expectations, it can be jarring.
So-
Sure.
Just kind of remind yourself candidates, you do need to be more patient around interview processes and go in with the expectation that there will likely be more rounds than you’re used to the last time you interviewed. Maybe other additional like hoops to jump through, that again, you didn’t, you didn’t have to jump through the last time you interviewed.
Secondly, and I really want to emphasize this part because I, we have, I have come across this so much recently, it’s insane. Candidates really need to focus on your resumes and LinkedIn’s more than ever. And I’m usually like the opposite of that. I’m usually like, Oh, like it’s fine. Like, don’t spend too much time on your resume.
I think right now you need to be hyper focused and I think you need to be transparent on your resume and your Linkedin. We’ve seen a lot of situations recently, if you were laid off from a job, if you had a really short stint. I don’t care. Put it on your LinkedIn. Put it on your resume. I know that other, like, people give kind of different advice around that stuff.
Like don’t keep your LinkedIn or your resume job date as to present, if you are not still there. I’m going to say that one more time, because I think a lot of people will just like, leave it.
They got laid off and it’ll still on their LinkedIn say, you know, I’ve been at this company from 2021 to present. If you’re not there, mark the job as ended, like the end date, include it. Hiring managers are looking at candidates right now, like I said, with the finest tooth comb, and they’re looking for reasons, for some reason, like not to move forward with candidates.
So if you’re not currently at a job or you had a short job stint, still put it on your resume and your LinkedIn, or honestly, like hiring managers right now are being like a little bit skeptical and being like, Oh, well, now I can’t trust this candidate. They’re not being truthful, like they’re being kind of sketchy. And they’re just like kind of jumping to conclusions about your overall trustworthiness and like candidacy in general.
Yeah, I completely agree with all of those sentiments. And I know you mentioned this and, you know, I talk to candidates all the time who get totally mixed messaging around if they should put those short stints on their resume. And like you said, we believe that they should. Transparency is key and in our opinion, it’s better to lead with that than to not. And, you know, ultimately it’s way better to start off on the right foot with hiring managers and have everything out in the open, in a really professional way. And if, you know, you’re partnered with a recruiter, they can help you kind of craft how to share that narrative in a way that, you know, obviously still supports your great experience.
But if you think about it, on the other hand, if a hiring manager finds out later, like whether it’s in the interview process or maybe you got the job and they find out later, you’re going to have to explain yourself. And it’s not going to be a fun scenario and you’ve probably lost the, you know, the trust that you’ve already built with them.
So use the space on your LinkedIn in your resume to explain any short stints, or if you were impacted by layoffs. Put it all out there. I think, you know, there’s different ways that people can share this information. We’ve been saying this for years. Optimize your LinkedIn profile. You have so much space on there to do so.
There’s an opportunity to tell, you know, your story and your about me section and provide more information about your career history, but also who you are as a person. And then really like using that place, to fill in the gaps that maybe if you’re trying to keep your resume a little bit shorter, that’s a good place that a lot of this content can live.
I couldn’t agree more. I think like you’re saying, like using all that space on your LinkedIn, we know short stints don’t look great. Like, but if you explain it, you know what I mean? Like just having a short stint by itself without any explanation. That’s one thing. Using that space, providing explanations.
And like you said, starting your relationship with a hiring manager where everything is out in the open and you’re not like backpedaling awkwardly, you know, round two in the interview process, you know, they’re going to uncover it anyway. You might as well start with it. And so I couldn’t agree more, honestly.
